[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 126 (Friday, June 29, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38772-38773]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16061]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-BA75


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Electronic Dealer Reporting 
System Workshop

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public workshops.

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SUMMARY: On June 28, 2011, NMFS published a proposed rule that 
considered requiring, among other things, Federal Atlantic swordfish, 
shark, and tunas dealers (except for dealers reporting Atlantic bluefin 
tuna) to report commercially-harvested Atlantic sharks, swordfish, and 
bigeye, albacore, yellowfin, and skipjack (BAYS) tunas through one 
centralized electronic reporting system. This electronic reporting 
system will allow dealers to submit Atlantic sharks, swordfish, and 
BAYS tuna data on a more real-time basis and more efficiently, which 
will reduce duplicative data submissions from different regions. We 
proposed to delay the effective date of the electronic reporting 
requirements until 2013 in order to give sufficient time for dealers to 
adjust to implementation of the new system and the additional 
requirements. On December 14, 2011, we conducted an initial training 
workshop in the Caribbean area in order to introduce the new reporting 
system to HMS dealers. In this notice, we announce the date and 
location for additional training workshops in the Caribbean, Gulf of 
Mexico and Atlantic regions in order to continue introducing HMS 
dealers to the new electronic system.

DATES: Training workshops for the new electronic dealer system will be 
held from July through September 2012. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
for meeting dates, times, and locations.

ADDRESSES: Workshops will be held in Mayag[uuml]ez, Puerto Rico; St. 
Croix, United States Virgin Islands (U.S.V.I.); Belle Chase, Louisiana; 
Dulac, Louisiana; Panama City, Florida; Port Orange, Florida; Seminole, 
Florida; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Marathon, Florida Keys. See 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for dates, times, and locations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Delisse Ortiz or Karyl Brewster-Geisz 
at (301) 427-8503 (phone), or Jackie Wilson at (240) 338-3936, or (301) 
713-

[[Page 38773]]

1917 (fax), or http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/index.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic HMS are managed under the dual 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act (MSA), 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., and the Atlantic Tunas Convention 
Act (ATCA), 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. Under the MSA, NMFS must ensure 
consistency with the National Standards and manage fisheries to 
maintain optimum yield, rebuild overfished fisheries, and prevent 
overfishing. ATCA authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to promulgate 
regulations, as may be necessary and appropriate, to implement the 
recommendations adopted by the International Commission for the 
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The authority to issue 
regulations under MSA and ATCA has been delegated from the Secretary to 
the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA. The implementing 
regulations for Atlantic HMS are at 50 CFR part 635.

Background

    The current regulations and infrastructure of the Atlantic HMS 
quota-monitoring systems result in a delay of several weeks or more 
before NMFS receives dealer data. This can affect management and 
monitoring of small Atlantic HMS quotas and short fishing seasons. As 
such, on June 28, 2011 (76 FR 37750), we published a proposed rule in 
the Federal Register that considered requiring, among other things, 
Federal Atlantic swordfish, shark, and tunas dealers (except for 
dealers reporting Atlantic bluefin tuna) to report commercially-
harvested Atlantic sharks, swordfish, and BAYS tunas through one 
centralized electronic reporting system. Under this new system, dealers 
would submit HMS data electronically (instead of in a paper format) and 
include additional information that is necessary for management of HMS 
(e.g., vessel and logbook information). The electronic submission of 
data will eliminate the delay associated with mailing in hardcopy 
reports. In this manner, HMS landings data will be submitted on a more 
real-time basis, allowing for timely and efficient data collection for 
management of Atlantic HMS.
    In order to give sufficient time for dealers to adjust to 
implementation of the new system and the additional requirements, we 
proposed delaying implementation of the new HMS electronic reporting 
system for all federally-permitted HMS dealers until 2013. 
Additionally, we decided to conduct outreach to HMS dealers to train 
them how to use the new system and help ease the transition from the 
current paper format to the new HMS electronic reporting system. We 
conducted an initial training workshop for HMS dealers in St. Thomas, 
U.S.V.I. on December 14, 2011, and in this notice we are announcing 
additional training workshops in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, and 
Caribbean regions. However, we are not holding a training workshop in 
St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. at this time; we are working on scheduling an 
additional training session in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. in the future.

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                 Date                            Time              Meeting locations             Address
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July 17, 2012........................  4:30-7:30 p.m..........  Centro de Recursos para  Universidad de Puerto
                                                                 la Informaci[oacute]n    Rico, Recinto de
                                                                 y Educaci[oacute]n       Mayag[uuml]ez,
                                                                 Marina.                  Edificio de
                                                                                          F[iacute]sica,
                                                                                          Sal[oacute]n 310,
                                                                                          Mayag[uuml]ez, PR
                                                                                          00681.
July 19, 2012........................  5:00-8:00 p.m..........  Center for Marine and    University of the
                                                                 Environmental Studies.   Virgin Islands,
                                                                                          RR1 Box
                                                                                          10,000, Evans Center,
                                                                                          Theater/Room EVC 401,
                                                                                          Kingshill, VI 00850-
                                                                                          9781.
August 7, 2012.......................  5:00-8:00 p.m..........  Belle Chasse Auditorium  8398 HWY. 23, Belle
                                                                                          Chasse, LA 70037.
August 8, 2012.......................  5:00-8:00 p.m..........  Grand Caillou            106 Badou Drive, Dulac,
                                                                 Recreation Center.       LA 70353.
August 15, 2012......................  1:30-4:30 p.m..........  Bay County Government    840 W. 11th Street,
                                                                 Center.                  Room 1030,
                                                                                          Panama City, FL 32401.
August 21, 2012......................  3:30-6:30 p.m..........  Port Orange Regional     1005 City Center
                                                                 Library.                 Circle, Port Orange,
                                                                                          FL 32129.
August 22, 2012......................  4:30-7:30 p.m..........  Seminole Community       9200 113th Street N.,
                                                                 Library.                 Seminole, FL 33772.
August 23, 2012......................  4:30-7:30 p.m..........  Tyrone Bryant Branch     2230 NW 21st Avenue,
                                                                 Library.                 Fort Lauderdale, FL
                                                                                          33311.
September 5, 2012....................  6:30-9:30 p.m..........  Marathon Government      2798 Overseas Highway,
                                                                 Center.                  Milemarker 48.5, EOC
                                                                                          BOCC Meeting Room, 2nd
                                                                                          Floor, Marathon, FL
                                                                                          33050.
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    These workshops will be physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Delisse Ortiz at (301) 425-8503 or 
Jackie Wilson at (240) 338-3936 at least 7 days prior to the workshop 
date. The public is reminded that NMFS expects participants at the 
workshop to conduct themselves appropriately. At the beginning of each 
workshop, a representative of NMFS will explain the ground rules (e.g., 
alcohol is prohibited from the hearing room; each attendee will have an 
opportunity to ask questions; and attendees should not interrupt one 
another). Attendees are expected to respect the ground rules; if they 
do not, they will be asked to leave the workshop.

    Dated: June 26, 2012.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-16061 Filed 6-28-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P